media as the message

Cosmix

I went to friday's afternoon section and I found it to be pretty interesting. Hearing about the history of the planetarium was cool. To think that it was originally more about the projector than the projection blew my mind, and yet, it makes sense. There are a lot of things made just for show. Its more like show over substance. I enjoyed seeing the picture of the projector over the years as it got smaller and smaller and the focus changed to less about what it looked like to more about what it could do. Learning about Interactive media in general was very cool to me. There's nothing I like more than to be able to interact with things. Its a human necessity in my opinion. Hearing David? (the professor who teaches dangerous ideas) talk about that interaction and connection through immersive media was what caught my attention the most. The psychology was cool and i think that he's right. The easier it is for an audience to see and connect with a piece, physically and or emotionally the bigger a success it will be. I wasn't lucky enough to be able to attend the weekend shows, but i enjoyed Friday's presentation a lot.

Final Fantasy: Gaming as a Narrative

So this assignment was right up my alley. Who doesn't wanna play video games for homework? Anyways, I picked up Final Fantasy XIII for this assignment. I didn't finish it, but finishing a three disc xbox 360 game in a week, with lots of hw, is something only gamer gods can do, haha. But yeah,I've been playing final fantasy games for years and I absolutely love the narrative aspect of them. As much as I like to read, theres something about actually being able to explore and interact with pieces of stories that just...blows my mind. There's nothing I'm drawn to more than interactive media, so the final fantasy games are gold minds for me and people like me. While some of their stories have been a little shallow, the majority of them leave you wanting more. It's not hard to getting addicted to them. As you play and adventure in the elaborate worlds, you become emotionally invested in it. I know I do all the time. Just being able to see the characters emotions and to be able to control and experience these things with them regardless the medium, makes it...I'm not sure how to describe it really. Games like the ones in the FF series just take literature to that next level. You're no longer just imagining being in this area as you go along, you are there. You're not just reading about a dinosaur jumping out chasing you through a training facility, your walking...and getting the shit scared outta you when it leaps from the brushes and roars at you. You physically see it, hear it and react to it.

Asterios Polyp

Reading Asterios Polyp was nothing short of interesting. Due to my busy work schedule, I wasn't able to finish all of it, but its definitely on my summer reading list. I loved how diverse the novel was in the sense that it didn't follow the usual structure of a comic. The page layouts werent all just traditional panels. David Mazzucchelli wasn't confined to a strict formula and stepped out of the box with his designs and I enjoyed it a lot. As for the story elements, that was interesting as well. I would have never even considered narrating a story from a still born twin brother's point of view. At times, it was hard to understand what was going on, seeing as it hopped around so much between his past and current life as well as in his subconscious and conscious mind. I'm pretty sure once I can actually sit down and focus on it this summer I will be able to better comprehend it. Even though it was confusing at some points, I really loved how it was able to move like that around the main character. In almost every comic, graphic novel, or simply a story, everything centers around a main character and we see whats shaped them and where they're going. Its not often that we get to take a look at him while he's looking at himself. It was really cool to see exactly how he sees himself, as well as how everyone else perceives him and on top of that, how we feel about him based on both of those views. But yeah, as I said, I really wanna pick it back up and get the full effect of it once i get some time.

Emerging Culture

To go along with my cool hunting, I thought I'd include something about an emerging pattern cultures, mainly american culture. I'm sure that the desire to become famous has been around for ages and that there have been people since the dawn of time that will do anything to get there. Some people risk their lives just for a chance of stardom, whether its through acts of seemingly sincere bravery or demeaning acts of stupidity. Every day, there are new videos being posted throughout the interwebs of people doing stupid and even dangerous things. And why? Just for a chance to be seen, to be acknowledge in a culture that's quickly going downhill. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, because I've fallen victim to this many a time and probably will again, but its kinda sad to see what people will do just for a few views on youtube. Everyone's looking to be the next jackass or viral video. And whats even sadder are those who aren't trying to seem stupid or completely ridiculous. Take Rebecca Black for instance. She's a girl around fourteen who simply wanted to make a music video/single. I'm not sure of whether she was legitly was trying to get famous or whether she just wanted the experience of being a singer in a music video. Either way, the response to the video has been nothing short of insane. The video was awful and her voice/lyrics were just as bad, but she is a fourteen yr old with now musical training or education. What should we expect? I'll admit, I laughed and made fun of it as well, but there are people who went over the top. Posting that it was awful and that she should kill herself? really? People that pull that kinda stunt are beyond my comprehension. I guess my point of this is, people risk so much for 2 mins of fame on the net, its ridiculous.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/03/who-is-rebecca-black-and-why-do-we-care-about-her-/1

Cool Hunting

I think the next new 'Cool' thing (if it isn't already cool) will be the Frog 4.0. It's a full workstation, complete with built in speakers and a control that adjusts the distance of the table from you as well as several other things. People are having a hard time leaving their desks and work stations already, so this workstation is just a step in that direction. I admittedly don't move from my seat with my computer for hour at a time every now and then and that's in uncomfortable chairs. I can't imagine what it'd be like if it were actually comfortable. I might never leave.

Service Learning Project: In Action

On April 5th, I showed up to the Broach school groggy but anxious. My partner and I hadn't talked since the last class, not to mention I had only slept maybe an hour the not before. Despite working with kids on a weekly basis, I was nervous about not being prepared and generally not knowing what to expect.



Upon heading into the building, I was greeted by a smiling face and waited until my partner arrived. I was relieved from the first smile and began to relax. Sliding into my element wasn't hard after that and once my partner arrived we headed back into one of the several classrooms.



Starting the project was pretty simple. My partner and I passed out the puzzle pieces along with the other supplies and let them get started. We tried not to steer them in any particular direction. We thought it'd be more interesting to see where each of them took it on their own and then after what it looked like as a whole.



Working on collage with kids was very fun. I've done other sorts of art projects with youth, but I had never done anything with collage. It was really interesting to see and hear their thought pattern, especially when it came to cut out the pieces they liked. Some were very careful and precise and others were fast and loose. I think it really echoed their personalities. Some were more talkative than others, but that's pretty normal. I even talked to one about her own personal collages and what she was interested in being when she got older.



Slowly but surely they worked and I chatted as well as helped a few with their 'vision'. I enjoyed it and after a while my partner and I sat down and made our own.



I think the project was a success. The students had fun and so did we. it felt great to be able to share a piece of my world with kids who otherwise might not get a chance to experience anything like it.

Broach School Proposal

For my service learning project, my idea was to create a small jigsaw puzzle with the students. Four of five would probably be a good range and I have been approached by another ringling student to help me. She proposed the idea that rather than just draw on each piece, we should instead collage it all together. She brought up a good point that many of them may not get to ever do collage, so I agreed to work with her. Supplies would consist of scissors, glue, construction paper and magazines. We will provide the puzzle pieces and I'll have them precut. Hopefully it'll be a piece of cake and all of us will have a good time doing it.

Body as a Media

The body can be used as a media in several different ways. When I think of it being used as one, the first thing that comes to my mind is acting and theater. Without convincing acting, whether its vocal or body language, emerging ourselves in the art of theater and movies would be next to impossible. You can use all the CG and special effects you want, but it really comes down to the actors and actresses to make it work. They use their bodies to drawn us into the alternate realities, through costume and make up, by putting on second skins though in realty it's their them that are the over all media.

Lolita

Lolita…this book was a conundrum for me. The way it was written was somewhat over my head and dense and yet, it was a hard one for me to stop reading. As nauseating as the main themes were, the author did a phenomenal job of keeping the reader’s attention. The novel is all about pedophilia and molestation as well as murder and other violent acts. It’s enough to put even the most unfeeling person on edge and yet I find the attraction to the novel hard to put into words. By using an unreliable narrator, Nabokov manages to place somewhat of a veil over the reader’s eyes. The narrator’s view is slanted and he serves to slant the readers’ as well, in order to justify what he did as ok. Throughout the novel, he has somewhat of an inner conflict. He knows that his lust and actions were wrong and yet he often uses the loss of his first love as a scapegoat as well as Lolita herself. His warped sense of reality doesn’t help matters at all, which leaves the reader in a rather uncomfortable state as the book continues to progress.

“Good will! She would mail her vulnerability in trite brashness and boredom, whereas I, using for my desperately detached comments an artificial tone of voice that set my own last teeth on edge, provoked my audience to such outbursts of rudeness as made any further conversation impossible, oh my poor, bruised child.

I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller,”

This passage alone shows the narrators conflicted nature as well as his excuses. He hides behind being a romantic, saying he actually loved her for more than just her body and childlike whimsy. He admits he was cruel and monstrous but excuses it because he knows his ‘love’ was sincere. In one portion of the novel he even claims that Lolita seduced him with her games and teasing, though in this passage he begins to realize that she was more likely covering up her vulnerability with her ‘brashness’ and ‘boredom’. This often caused him to lash out at her, to try to provoke her into feeling something more for him. To feel his passion and lust, though neither were ever truly returned.

“I could not kill her, of course, as some have thought. You see, I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.”

“You may jeer at me, and threaten to clear the court, but until I am gagged and half-throttled, I will shout my poor truth. I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita, this Lolita, pale and polluted, and big with another's child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine;”

As mentioned before, the author does a great job of skewing the novel and works the unreliable narrator well. Even though child molesters/pedophiles are the lowest of the low, Nabokov makes the reader want to feel some sort of sympathy toward the narrator. Humbert wants us to believe he’s the victim and some moments in the story he actually achieved it. Overall Lolita is one of those extremely controversial books that make you really question morality. If Lolita had been just a few years older, the book would be something completely different, like wise, if it Hubert were younger or if it were simply in a different era. It wouldn’t have made such an impact on the masses.

Genre

Genre is described by webster’s dictionary as “a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content,”. When it comes to art there are several basic genres such as illustrations, fine art, graphic design, computer animation, etc and there are also many sub genres as well. Art is literature when it comes to its various subtypes. Each one is based on more of a style aspect than anything else. Some art subtypes can be classified as pointillism, art deco, rococo, etc. My own art work would fall into the realms of illustration, though it’s hard to classify the subtype. I have not yet found my niche, but recently its been somewhat painterly and shape oriented. It’s graphic and more stylistic than representational. I am working on incorporating a little more realism into my pieces so that I can get a better handle on more stylized approaches, because like in writing and public speaking, one most know the truth and deceive in degrees so to speak.

For my pulp novel, I took a look at Agatha Christie’s ‘Evil Under the Sun’. It’s set at a sea side hotel and focuses on the murder of actress by the name of Arlena. Hercule Poirot is the man on the case and takes us on an adventure all around the hotel to find the rather obnoxiously flirtatious woman’s killer. Hercule stumbles upon the case and the novel is most definitely a whodunit that keeps you guessing all the way through. I’ve not read many of Christie’s other books, but this one moves at a sort of slower pace. It was intriguing and as in other detective novels included interrogations and several twists and turns. I was certain that it was Linda, Arlena’s step daughter, that offed Arlena, but I was proven wrong in the end. Like most detective novels there are several red herrings and Hercule proves to be extremely clever when he points out Christine’s lack of vertigo. My experience with detective novels has been few, though I love the genre whether it deals with movies, television or novel. I get a rush trying to figure out the culprit before the end and though I tend to make a lot of wrong turns, I love the ending all the same. Mindless books and movies are fun sometimes, but I’d take one that makes me think over one of those any day and that’s what Evil Under the Sun did for me.

Favorite Film Situation

Like many people that go to Ringling, I consider myself a bit of a film buff. I don’t know everything there is to know about films, but I have seen quite a few and it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. After sorting through a large list, I decided to pick Nightmare on Elm Street as one of my all time top picks. Nightmare on Elm Street was released in 1984 and was directed and written by Wes Craven. It falls under the horror genre and more specifically the slasher genre. The movie is about several high school students who are haunted in their dreams by a villain by the name of Fred Krueger. If they fall asleep, Krueger will kill them in their sleep, which causes their deaths in the real world. In the original version, the villain was a child molester though due to a lot of big cases involving molestation in California during the time of its release. It had a budget of 1.8 million dollars but easily earned it all back within the first week. One of the main reasons I love this movie, other than it being a really creepy slasher, is that it has so many different inspirations. Newspaper articles from the 1970s that documented refugees that escaped Vietnam inspired Craven. The refugees were reported to having reoccurring and disturbing night terrors and refused to sleep after them. Some of them died ended up dying in their sleep soon after. The song Dream Weaver by Gary Wright and childhood experiences also inspired Craven. He even named the main villain after a bully from his childhood. The special effects in the movie were creative for the era and the themes in it were majorly about the loss of innocence. Around that time American families were migrating to the suburbs and the movie is said to be a reaction to said move. When people think of the American suburbs, especially around that time, it was associated with innocence and safety. The movie exhibited the adults of the fictional town as protectors as they tried to rid the town of Freddy, who was a child murderer, and hid the deed from their children to ‘keep them safe’. The film does an amazing job blurring the lines between the imaginary and real realms, not to mention it keeps you on your toes.

Modern Day Fairytale

Once upon a time there was a boy by the name of Soren. He was rather small though he had a large personality. He was known all around town for his mischievous nature and devious pranks. Every night he’d fall asleep thinking of his next plot and every morning he’d wake up with a new way to reek havoc on the towns folk. Now Soren’s pranks were never harmful, at least not to him. What was the harm in gluing coins to the sidewalks or rearranging Mr. Allen’s general store shelves? To him, it was all in good fun when he would tie people’s shoe strings together or when he would saran wrap door ways. The towns folk, however, thought differently. As innocent as Soren’s pranks were meant to be, they were a big inconvenience to them. The people of the town were generally serious in nature. They were hard workers and barely had time for shenanigans, unlike Soren. Something had to be done about he’s carefree attitude. He needed to work just as hard as everyone else in the town. So, a town meeting was called on Soren’s behalf. Something needed to be done. That evening the town was deserted and it left the young boy confused. He looks high and low for someone to prank but found no one. Sighing softly, he drug his feet along the dirt roads. He trudged along with dust flying up behind him, until heard a cough. Brushing a few curly brown locks from his face, he peeked into the dark alley where he’d heard the noise. There in the alley was an old man leaned up against the wall.

“Come here, lad,” he called. Soren was hesitant, but inched closer nonetheless. “Are you looking for the townsfolk?” The young boy nodded and inched forward into the alley more. He could see a dusty blanket was laid out in front of the older man. There was a round object that glimmered in the light sitting on top of it that intrigued Soren. The old man noticed Soren’s gaze and motioned him closer. “Come boy…let me show you where they are…”

Nervously Soren walked into the alley and sat down in front of the old man. The sphere shown with light and a fog like substance swirled inside of it. The boy’s eyes grew wide as the old man waved his hands around it. The fog turned into the shapes of people in a large crowded hall and voices began to flow from it. Soren was shocked to see that the figures were that of the townsfolk. They were having a meeting…a meeting about him. For hours, each person stood and told their Soren stories. Person after person angrily told the group about how the boy had wronged them and tears began to form in Soren’s eyes. He never meant to be hurtful. All he had wanted to do was share his fun with others. He didn’t understand how his pranks could cause so much pain. The old man placed a hand on his shoulder as the youngster began to sob. His wrinkled fingers pointed to the globe as a girl about Soren’s age clamored up to the podium. She stood up straight and looked all the townfolk in the eyes as she told how Soren had switched the heads on her dolls and how upset she’d been. She had cried right there in front of him, but instead of laughing he’d picked up his own action figures and switched their heads too. He acted out a play with her dolls and his to make her laugh and to cheer her up.

Once she finished the townsfolk began to think. The next man that stood up talked about how Soren had done graffiti one the side of his shop and how the goofy pictures brought more customers into his shop. Soon, everyone was talking about how the young boy’s pranks were positive in some way. Rather than being angry and serious, a lot of the folk were smiling and laughing about it all. Soren sat watching the ball in confusion. This was what he wanted, but he still felt bad for all that he had done. He looked over to the old man, who smiled at him gently. “Your heart was in the right place, but now that you have seen and heard all of this, you must make a decision,” Soren looked on in confusion. “Do you continue with your old ways, knowing they both hurt and help? Or will you figure out a new way to help others share in your laughter?” Before Soren could answer, the old man vanished, leaving him alone in the alley. Stunned the boy wandered out as the people began to leave then town hall. No one spoke to Soren about the meeting, though he began to change. He went to bed at night thinking of what the old man had said and the next morning, he began to find different ways to make the townsfolk smile. As the days passed the town grew to appreciate Soren and he began to appreciate them.

Media Dialog

Hopefully i’m doing this right. My dialog is about how people are so quick to take the stereotypes and themes television and other media present as mostly fact rather than fiction.

Persons:

rp-fan08

ff-fanatic

SCENE: online chatroom

ff-fanatic: i have such a love hate relationship with chat rooms

rp-fan08: tell me about it. most of them are like watching train wrecks. it’s terrible, but you can’t help but watch

ff-fanatic: i know what you mean. i think my biggest tick is when people blatantly misspell everything

rp-fan08: haha, most definitely. I mean, i’m no spelling bee champ, but come on

ff-fanatic: yeh, i no waht u b sayin, dawg. dat shit be ridiculoz

rp-fan08: haha, you’ve got issues

ff-fanatic: word son. it hurt me just ta type that. I feel like i got in touch with my black roots though

rp-fan08: black roots? how does typing like that get in touch with your roots?

ff-fanatic: haha, you know what i mean.

rp-fan08: I guess, still talking like that doesn’t make you ‘black’ or anything

ff-fanatic: You gotta admit, a lot of black people talk like that

rp-fan08: rappers and tv stereotypes? maybe, but you don’t have to talk like that to be black.

ff-fanatic: don’t get all bent outta shape…i didn’t mean anything by it. i was just jokin.

rp-fan08: I know. I don’t have much room to talk, considering I joke about that stuff too. I guess it’s an inner conflict of mine. Either way, those ‘ghetto’ stereotypes annoy me. stereotypes in general are pretty annoying in general especially since they’re plastered all over the media. sure, they can be funny, but only when they’re taken at face value and not seriously.

ff-fanatic: well yeah…but it’s hard not to believe it when there are plenty of people that walk around with their pants sagging and what not. I can never understand what some of the guys that ride my bus say. sure the media may exaggerate it…but they’re just making fun of things that they actually do. and not all of it is exaggerated either. I’ve watched plenty of b.e.t. and other black tv shows. a lot of them act accordingly.

rp-fan08: sure, some may set an example for the stereotype, i’m not saying they just pull it out of their asses. but what you’re saying is like implying that all Germans are Nazis or all whites eat mayo and suck at dancing

ff-fanatic: Why do you even care?

rp-fan08: …cause I’m black?

ff-fanatic: Really??

rp-fan08: Uh…yeah

ff-fanatic: …you don’t talk like you’re black

Phaedrus

Beginning:

· the non–lover should be accepted rather than the lover.

· there are two principles in a man, rational and irrational desire

· irrational desire powers love

· lovers look for loves inferior to themselves

· ‘As wolves love lambs so lovers love their loves.’

The Non-Lover:

· doesn’t quarrel with relatives

· doesn’t neglect themselves

· is less fickle

· is less jealous

· has fewer regrets

· a better friend

· is their own master

The Lover:

· ignores their own concerns for their beloved

· repents the kindness shown when passion ceases

· will do man wrong for their beloved

· is more likely to hurt a present love for a future one

· is small in number

· spoils rather than nurtures

Second:

· Love is a divine madness

· Inspired madness is noble

· There are four kinds of madness; prophecy, inspiration, poetry, and love

· the soul is immortal and can move anothers and be moved by others

Rhetoric

· Is more effective when the speaker is passionate

· speakers can often be biased by their own passions

· to create a good speech, the speaker must know their subject

· there must be some truth in deception

· “The mere knowledge of the truth not enough to give the art of persuasion. But neither is the art of persuasion separable from the truth,”

My Situation as a Reader

Hello, my name is Grace Seward. I’m twenty years old and was born and raised in a small town in ohio. I come from a mostly African American family though I have several other cultures in my background. I started reading at a young age. I was considered a very bright child and reading was something that excited me. I started with basic children’s books but by middle school i was reading high school level books. Back then I loved to read anything that had to do with fiction, but most of it was fantasy and adventure books. I was very picky about what it was I read, because my attention span wasn’t very long. Now a days, I don’t read very often. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it anymore. I still love to read and once I start, it’s usually hard for me to stop. I’m not particularly fast paced unless I’m really interested, but I’ll easily come back to it. I really haven’t had much time or patience to read lately though. The amount of time I have only allows me to get through the first few pages and if I’m not hooked by then, or guaranteed it’s a good read, chances are I won’t continue with it. I do tend to enjoy a bit wider range of genre, however. Non-fiction as well as fiction can catch my interest. It really all just depends on how fast.